Archer&#39;s finger tab



Dec. 21, 1965 E, H, HOYT, JR 3,224,009

vARC-)HER FINGER TAB Filed June 23, 1964 www United States Patent O 3,224,009 ARCHERS FINGER TAB Earl H. Hoyt, Jr., 11510 Natural Bridge Road, Bridgeton, Mo. Filed .lune 23, 1964, Ser. No. 377,216 4 Claims. (Cl. 2-21) This invention relates to an archers finge-r tab and particularly to means for securely holding the tab in the proper position on the archers hand.

In the past archers finger tabs have been provided with a perforation in the lower or base portion thereof adapted to receive the middle finger of the archers string-drawing hand thereby to hold the tab in position on the hand. The use of such perforation results in distortion of the tab and some discomfort at the base of the middle finger. Moreover, the perforation is frequently found to be too large to hold the tab in correct position or too small, thereby adding further discomfort.

It has been found that a strip of elasticized fabric formed as a loop and attached to the base portion of the tab and projecting from the rear face thereof to receive the middle finger provides a means of cornfortably holding the tab in correct position on the hand with sufiicient tension. However, it has also been found to be essential to provide some means of conveniently adjusting the size of the loop to accommodate variations in finger size and to correct the loop size when the elasticized fabric stretches upon becoming wet by perspiration and again when subsequently shrinking upon drying.

It is an object, therefore, of the present invention to provide an improved archers finger tab having novel means for holding the tab in correct position on the archers hand.

A further object is to provide an archers finger tab having a conveniently adjustable loop formed of a strip of elasticized fabric attached to the base portion of the tab and adapted to receive the middle finger of an archers string-drawing hand.

Other objects and advantages will appear from the following description and accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of an archers finger tab with adjustable means constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a part sectional view taken on line 2-2 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary elevational view showing the base portion of the tab with the attaching loop removed.

Referring to the drawing, the tab, generally indicated at 10, is formed of two fiat sheets 12 and 14 of pliable material, the lower portions of which are joined by sewing as indicated by stitching 16. The sheets 12 and 14 may be of any suitable pliable material such as synthetic plastic, leather, or dense felt. A comfortable, durable tab may be constructed by forming the front sheet 12, which contacts the bowstring, of cordovan leather and the rear sheet 14, which contacts the fingers of the hand,

of a softer leather or dense felt. The tab may also be formed of a single sheet of pliable material.

The upper portion of the tab is divided into portions 18 and 20 by an arrow slot 22 which receives the nock end of an arrow when shooting. The narrower portion 18 overlies the index finger of the string-drawing hand, and the wider portion 20 overlies the second and third fingers of this hand. The base portion 24 of the tab, which is considerably narrower than the upper portion, is arranged to lie between the index and third fingers of the hand, and the bottom 26 of the tab is arranged to rest against the hand at the base of the second finger. In order to maintain the tab in this described position ice a loop, generally indicated at 28, formed of a strip of pliable elastic material and adapted to fit over the middle finger near the base thereof, is provided. While any suitable elastic material may be used, I prefer to use a strip of commercial elasticized fabric.

The loop 28 is attached at one end at 30 to the face side or front of the tab 10 by a rivet 32. From its point of attachment at 30, the strip forming the loop 28 extends toward the right, in FIG. 2, along the front face of the tab to a narrow rectangular aperture 34 through which it passes to the rear of the tab. A loop is formed at the rear of the tab to receive the middle finger and the strip then passes from the rear side of the tab back to the front or face side thereof through a second narrow rectangular aperture 36. From the aperture 36 the strip extends toward the right across the face side of the base portion of the tab and overlies the attached portion of the strip and the rivet head. Finally, the strip passes again through the narrow aperture 34 from the face side to the rear side of the tab and to a free end 38 extending rearwardly from the rear side of the tab. The end 38 may be fitted with a metal or synthetic plastic finial, if desired, to preclude the unravelling of the fabric or inadvertent pulling of the free end back through the aperture 34. Presently, I prefer to fold back a short portion of the free end of the strip and glue it in this folded position. The width of the aperture 34 with relation to the thickness of the elastic strip is such that when two thicknesses of the strip pass through the aperture 34 the fit is tight enough to maintain the loop size.

In operation the loop 28 is made conveniently large to slip over the middle finger by attenuating the strip by a sufiicient pulling force to cause the strip to slip through the apertures 34 and 36, The tab is then positioned with its base 26 at the base of the middle finger, the loop over the middle finger, and the portions 18 and 20 overlying the index finger and middle and third lingers, respectively. With the tab in position, the free end of the elastic strip is pulled sufficiently with the other hand to cause the strip to slip through aperture 34, and the loop is tightened on the finger to a comfortable tension which will hold the tab in correct position.

Due to the fact that the strip is elastic, its cross-section will be appreciably reduced as it stretches upon pulling, and it will therefore slip easily through the apertures 34 and 36 to permit tightened or loosening the loop. When the loop is adjusted so as to be comfortably snug about the base of the middle finger the free end of the strip is released. Upon release, the cross section of the strip and paricularly those portions thereof which pass together through aperture 34 tend to assume their free unstretched size and therefore hold the loop to the size which it was adjusted. The loop 28 may readily be enlarged by pulling sufiiciently on any portion of the loop.

It will be be seen from the foregoing that I have provided a simple, adjustable, comfortable means of holding an archers linger tab in correct position irrespective of the Isize of the archers fingers. Other materials than the preferred elasticized fabric may be employed; for example, a strip of natural or synthetic rubber or rubberlike material may be used, and while these materials may have a greater tendency to slip from their adjusted positions than elasticized fabric, they do not tend to stretch when wet as does an elasticized fabric.

The foregoing description is intended to be illustrative and not limiting, the scope of the invention being set forth inthe appended claims.

I claim:

1. In an archers finger tab having a base portion adapted to Yoverlie the base portion of the middle finger of the hand, a pair of spaced apertures in said base portion, a strip of elastic material attached at one end to one side of said tab base portion, said strip extending from its attached end to one of said apertures, through said ione aperture to the other side of said base portion, across said other side of said tab base portion to the other of said apertures, through said other aperture back to said one side of said tab base portion, across said one side of said tab base portion to said one aperture, and again through said one aperture to said other side of said tab base portion and projecting as a free end from said other side of said tab base portion, that portion of said strip extending across said other side of said tab base portion between said apertures being formed as a loop to receive the middle nger of the hand and said one aperture being of such size relative to the sectional dimensions of said strip portions passing therethrough as to prevent slippage of said strip portions therein under the tension required to hold the tab in position in use but permitting slippage of said strip portions in said one aperture when said strip is stretched sufficiently, whereby an adjusted loop size is maintained under conditions of use of the tab and whereby said loop size may be readily adjusted by stretching said elastic strip.

2. In an archers nger tab as set forth in claim 1 in which said strip of elastic material is a strip of elasticized fabric having a generally rectangular cross-sectional configuration and in which said apertures are rectangular.

3. In an archers iinger tab as set forth in claim 1 in which said free end of said elastic strip is provided with an enlarged end portion to prevent the inadvertent pulling of said end portion of said strip back through said one aperture when adjusting the loop to a larger size.

4. In an archers finger tab having a base portion adapted to overlie the base portion of the middle linger of the hand, a pair of spaced apertures in said base portion, a strip of elastic material attached at one end to the face side of said `tab base portion at a point between said apertures, said strip extending from its attached end to one of said apertures, through said one aperture to the rear side of said tab base portion, aoross the rear side of said tab base portion to the other of said apertures, through said other aperture back to the face side of said tab base portion, across the face side of said tafb base portion to said one aperture, and again through said one aperture to the rear side Iof said tab base portion and projecting as a free end from said rear side of said tab base portion, that portion of said strip extending across said rear side of said tab base portion between said apertures being formed as a loop to receive the middle linger of the hand, and said yone aperture being of such size relative t0 the sectional dimensions of said strip portions passing therethrough as to prevent slippage of said strip portions therein under the tension required to hold the tab in position in use but permitting slippage of said strip portions in said 'one aperture when said strip is stretched sufficiently, whereby an adjusted loop size is maintained under conditions of use of the tab and whereby said loop size may be readily adjusted by stretching said elastic strip.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,974,319 3/1961 Wilson et al. 22l

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN AN ARCHER''S FINGER TAB HAVING A BASE PORTION ADAPTED TO OVERLIE THE BASE PORTION OF THE MIDDLE FINGER OF THE HAND, A PAIR OF SPACED APERTURES IN SAID BASE PORTION, A STRIP OF ELASTIC MATERIAL ATTACHED AT ONE END OF ONE SIDE OF SAID TAB BASE PORTION, SAID STRIP EXTENDING FROM ITS ATTACHED END TO ONE OF SAID APERTURES, THROUGH SAID ONE APERTURE TO THE OTHER SIDE OF SAID BASE PORTION, ACROSS SAID OTHER SIDE OF SAID TAB BASE PORTION TO THE OTHER OF SAID APERTURES, THROUGH SAID OTHER APERTURE BACK TO SAID ONE SIDE OF SAID TAB BASE PORTION, ACROSS SAID ONE SIDE OF SAID TAB BASE PORTION TO SAID ONE APERTURE, AND AGAIN THROUGH SAID ONE APERTURE TO SAID OTHER SIDE OF SAID TAB BASE PORTION AND PROJECTING AS A FREE END FROM SAID OTHER OTHER SIDE OF SAID TAB BASE PORTION THAT PORTION OF SAID STRIP EXTENDING ACROSS SAID OTHER SIDE OF SAID TAB BASE PORTION BETWEEN SAID APERTURES BEING FORMED AS A LOOP TO RECEIVE THE MIDDLE FINGER OF THE HAND AND SAID ONE APERTURE BEING OF SUCH SIZE RELATIVE TO THE SECTIONAL DIMENSIONS OF SAID STRIP PORTIONS PASSING THERETHROUGH AS TO PREVENT SLIPPAGE OF SAID STRIP PORTIONS THEREIN UNDER THE TENSION REQUIRED TO HOLD THE TAB IN POSITION IN USE BUT PERMITTING SLIPPAGE OF SAID STRIP PORTIONS IN SAID ONE APERTURE WHEN SAID STRIP IS STRETCHED SUFFICIENTLY, WHEREBY AN ADJUSTED LOOP SIZE IS MAINTAINED UNDER CONDITIONS OF USE OF THE TAB AND WHEREBY SAID LOOP SIZE MAY BE READILY ADJUSTED BY STRETCHING SAID ELASTIC STRIP. 